Evaporator.



G. C. WESTBY.

EVAPORATOR.

AvPLlcmou man Auml. ma.

Patented a Dec. i8, mi?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2m 'I 1,25of25e.

UNITED, sTATEs PATENT Noiirron.

GEORGE CUTLR-WESTBY, F LUDWIG, NEVADA, .AS-SIGNOR T0 WESTERN-PROCES! CCIP-ANY, A CORPORATION 0l nvnou'ron.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C, WEsTBY, a citizen of' the United States, residing at Ludwig, in the county of Lyon and State of Nevada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Evaporitors, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact speccall' ed principally fof wood, a substance which is f easily secured and which, when kept wet,

permits of contact by such solutions as copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and even sulfuric acid Without appreciable deterioration. Hitherto, where 1t has been desirable to evaporate dilute salt solutions, or in fact any solution used in hydro-metallurgy, to a state of concentration, the cost of evaporators made of iron or of materials resistant to such chemicals as 'sulfuric acid or copper sulfate, has been prohibitive of generalV use. Aside from this, the cost of the fuel neces sary for operating such evaporators has rendered them inapplicable to those cases where large quantities of solutions must be `cheaply evaporatedv in order to render the process commercially possible.

This .invention contemplates the provision of an extremel thin, owing flyms of the liquor are urged by gravity against air or gaseous currents. It 1s very desirable although not vitally necessary that the air or gases be heated so that their YcapacityV for.a sorbing moisture be atthe economic maximum, and that the heated air or gases be. admitted at some point in theapparatus near `the area of ds. charge of concentrated solution so that the concentration should proceed to a maxi'- mum in the lower zonesof the apparatus through theincrease of the solubility of the .salt under treatment by means of heat, with large surface, over which specification or Letten Patent. Patented Dpc. 18, 1911". Application med um 11,1915. aerial no. 4ans. A

the solidiV a consequent removal from of water.

and more rapid vaporization In operation, the solution which isto beconcentrated is taken by means of a pipe or fiume to a distributing difvice at the top of the apparatus. The liquor then falls into a grid or net-work of wooden slate, ayer the surface of which it spreads as a thin film.

as it falls in an interrupted shower to the bottom. of the eva orator. ,The action "of the wlnd or induce gaseous currts from s heater or furnace fiues blotting ltli the net-work causesrapid evaporation or vaporization of the film. In this'manner the solution becomes more and more concentrated as it descendsV through the net-work. The amount of concentration depends, of course, on the height of the apparatus or the number of times the solutionl is passed through it, the physical and chemical constitution of the. solution, its temperature, the heat and saturation of the gas currents, and the rateV of How of the solution and ases.

In the evaporation of FeSO4 -7' 2O to solid or crystalline form, the increasing concentration neartthe bottom of the apparatus results in the se aration of fine crystals which are carried y thevaporizing current of mother liquor to a receiving-tank from which they` may be conveyed for further treatment if desired. 'If the water of crystallization is to be removed, a suilicient temperature must be maintained at thel lower zone of the apparatus to insure the decomposition and vaporization of the water crystals. This, of course, may require the use of earthen ware slats at such points in the apparatus where'charring might otherwise occur, and ma also require mechanical cleaning of the bottom slats if the ,evapora tion is complete. y f

The invention will be lirst hereinafter descried in connection with the accompany- `ing drawings, which constitute apart of this specification, and thenmore specicall-y defined in the claims at the end of the-description;

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are lused to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1l is a vertical sectionl through (a apart by blocks 5.

vertical type of'evapora'tor constructed substantially 1n accordance With this invention anthjdesigned for utilizing heated air or smoke as the vaporif/.ing medium.

Fig. il is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of this evaporator, partly in section,

Fig. et is a horizontal ection on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a broken side elevation, partly in section, of a horizontal type of evaporator,

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a vertical evaporator designed `for .utilizing Wind or circulating atmospheric currents as the Vaporizing medium,

F ig. `7 is an elevation of another rnodiiied form of evaporator in which pipes are arranged for circulating steam, hot water or hot air through the netavork ot sluts, v

Fig. 8 is a section of the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7, and y.,

Fig. 9 is a section on the liiie IXMIX of Fig. 5.

Referring first to Figs. l to 4, inclusive, l

designates the outer casing or sheath whichY is mounted upon a suitable foundation 2 through which heated air or smoke is ad- 'mitted at 3, Fig. 3. Arranged within the casing 1 and spaced from its sides are superimposed horizontal series of slats 4 which forni the principal evaporating surface. These slats are cut to the smallest cross section consistent with that required to prevent appreciable bending by their own Weight between supports. rThe horizontal series of slats are arranged to extend alternately at right angles to each other, and slats of alternate series ivhich extend in the same direc tion are arranged out of vertical alinernent so that the dripping of the solution from each of the upper series or layers of slats will splash onto and spread over and around the slats of the layers immediately below them. It is designed to' include the greatest possible evaporating surface Within the smallest space consistent with sufiieient aeriieation and practical construction.

The horizontal `layers of slats are spaced At the top of the superot slats there is arranged a imposed series tank 6 having a perforated shallow -box or I .bottoni 7 for distributing the 'solution over noted that this heated the entire area of the top layer of slats. In

some cases inletAfiue 3 may also serve as a` channel through4 which theA residuum passes to the furnace (not shown) from" which the drying air or smoke is derived. It Will be air or smoke is hottest when it first enters the bottom of the evaporator, and that it may circulate' freely up through the superimposed series of slats and around them in the space 8 within the casing l.. If desired, a-an or blower 9 may be used for forcing the heated gases through the apparatus. It is obvious that either re Fig 5, 13 designatesa suitable puinp for'- ducing, oxidizing, or neutral gases may be conveniently driven into the evaporator in this way for inaintainin or modifying the chemical constitution o certain solutions. As the greatest heating cifect is nearest the bottoni and progressively decreases as the gases pass upward in this form of apparatus, the solubility of most salts will be raised as the concentration of the solutlon increases. H

In Figs. 5 and 9 a horizontal ype of eva f 7s-, orator is shown, the saine having a per 0- i rated pan G0 of greater relative 4area. than. the one shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3. 'Eaehhorizontal grid or series of slats 40 is of relatively greater arca in this form of hpparatus, so that it is not necessary to use as many of the superimposed layers as inthevertical type ot' evaporator. e; The heated air or smoke enters one end of` the' casiug l()` via, a pipe or flue 3D and escapes at theother 85 end of said Casin through a pipe l'lfentering the saine just elow the distributing pan o0. In this instance, the residue is"con vcyed by an inclined trough 1 2 to an outlet at one end of the casing l0, instead of -being discharged into the flue leading totheffurnace or to a tank or vessel from which the crystals are later removed, as, in the vertical i form of apparatus previously described. In

s forcing the solution through a pipe 14 into. the distributing tank 60. The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 6 is quite similar to that shown in Fig. 1, exce Vt thatthe outer casing is omitted, leaving t 1e 100 superimposed. series of slats 41 open to thev circulation of Winds or atmospheric currents which may thus be utilized as the evaporating medium instead of heated air or smoke, although heated gases or smoke may be used also in this case. This form of apparatus is especially useful for recovering salt (NaCl) from sea water, where it is usually desirable that the solution be exposed directly to the wind and the separate crystals transferredby a suitable conveyer 15 to adry ing door 16 when the mother liquor containing impurities may be discha'iged.

As illustrated in Fig. 7, one or more spaces may be lett. up through the superimposed layers'otl slats, and pipes 1.7 arranged there- ,in for the purpose oi circulating steam, hot

-Ispaces in which the pipes 17 are placed. The

distributing pan or tank 62 has its bottom 7 2 125 perforated only above the slats, the portion thereof above the space in which the pipes 17 are arranged being imperforate.

We do not confine ourselves to exact form of slats or arrangement of slats shown= in 13o drawings. The drawings are merely to illustrate the general principles involved in the ap aratus.

avingl thus described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described thecombination with superimposed spaced layers of slats arranghed with an open ace extending through em, means for ischarging a solution upon the slats, and

`pipes f or the circulation of a heated Huid arran d in said open space for the purpose speci ed.

2. In 'an apparatus of the character described the combination with superimposed spaced layers of slats arranged w1th an open space extending through them, of a distribting tank arranged above the slats and having its bottom erforatcd above the slats and imperforate a ove said space, and pipes for the circulation of a heated fluid arranged .in said open space for the purpose specified.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with superimposed spaced layers of slats arranged with an open space extending through the lower layers, of a distributing tank above said slats, and means for supplying heat to said s ace for distribution between the la ers of s ats.

4. lIn an apparatus of t e character de scribed the combination with superimposed spaced layers of slats, arranged with an open space extending through them, means for distributing a solution upon the s1ats, and means for supplying heat to said space for distribution between the layers of slats.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this s ification.

GEO GE CUTLER WESTBY. 

